Germany completes the task against the debuting Curaçao

Germany thrashed Curaçao 7-1 this Sunday at the in the opening match of Group E of the , with a dominant performance that dispels the ghosts of two consecutive group stage eliminations and sends a clear message to the rest of its rivals.

Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a right-footed shot inside the area, a goal that some sources place at five minutes and 17 seconds into the match, making it one of the fastest goals in Germany's World Cup history.

Curacao, however, did not give up immediately. L. Comenencia equalized in the 21st minute with a goal that will forever remain in the history books: the first goal for the Caribbean island in a World Cup. A moment that the fans of the small nation of just 150,000 inhabitants will not forget, despite the final result.

Germany resumed control without delay. Nico Schlotterbeck took advantage of a corner to score the 2-1 in the 38th minute, and Kai Havertz converted a penalty right before halftime to leave the score at 3-1 before the break.

At the beginning of the second half, Jamal Musiala put any hint of a comeback to rest with the 4-1 in the 47th minute, in a play that encapsulated Germany's superiority throughout the match. The midfielder was substituted in the 64th minute after an impressive performance.

Noah Brown completed the rout with a 5-1 goal in the 68th minute, before Germany's massive substitutions in the 73rd minute —Tah, Nmecha, and Brown himself— confirmed that the match was decided well before the final whistle.

The statistics reflect absolute dominance: 71% possession for Germany compared to 29% for Curacao, 15 total shots against four, four on target against two, and six corners to none. A level difference that the scoreboard faithfully translated.

The result has considerable symbolic weight for the German national team. Germany had been eliminated in the group stage in both Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, something unprecedented in its World Cup history. Before this streak, it had reached at least the quarter-finals in 16 consecutive tournaments. With this resounding victory, the team seems to have moved past that dark phase.

For Curacao, their debut in the World Cup —made possible by the expansion of the tournament to 48 teams, which increased CONCACAF's spots— resulted in a heavy defeat but also included that historic goal from Comenencia. The autonomous territory of the Kingdom of the Netherlands had already demonstrated competitive capability in previous qualifying rounds, but making it to the final stage of the World Cup is an unprecedented achievement for the island.

The is completed by Ivory Coast and Ecuador, who also faced off this Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Germany will play against Ivory Coast on June 20 and will close the group stage against Ecuador on June 25, with three points and a goal difference that already gives them a privileged position in the standings.